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Royal Caribbean's Points Choice Lets You Pick Points

Royal Caribbean Terminal A at PortMiami at golden hour, with a ship docked alongside, illustrating the Points Choice loyalty program flexibility
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4 min read

Key points

  • Royal Caribbean Group will launch Points Choice in early 2026
  • Guests can apply points from any sailing to any of the three brand programs
  • Existing one-for-one status match across Royal, Celebrity, and Silversea remains in place
  • Exchange rates and detailed rules will be announced closer to launch
  • Program aims to deepen cross-brand engagement within Royal Caribbean Group

Impact

Who Is Affected
Members of Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society, Celebrity's Captain's Club, and Silversea's Venetian Society who sail any Royal Caribbean Group brand
When It Starts
Early 2026 per Royal Caribbean Group, with more specifics to come
How It Works
You will choose which single program receives the points from each cruise, regardless of which of the three brands you sailed
What Stays The Same
The one-for-one Loyalty Status Match across the three brands continues unchanged
What To Do Now
Plan future sailings with a target program in mind and watch for the official exchange rules before finalizing point assignments

Royal Caribbean Group will introduce a new loyalty feature called Points Choice that lets cruisers decide where their points land. Beginning in early 2026, guests sailing Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, or Silversea can direct the points from that voyage to any one of the three brands' loyalty programs, rather than being locked to the line they sailed. The company says Points Choice builds on its existing cross-brand status match and is meant to make it easier to grow loyalty "wherever it is desired" within the group.

What changed, in plain English

Today, Royal Caribbean Group already recognizes your tier across brands through a one-for-one Loyalty Status Match. That means if you are, for example, Elite on Celebrity's Captain's Club, you receive an equivalent tier when you sail Royal Caribbean or Silversea. What you have not been able to do is move or assign points themselves. Points Choice adds that flexibility by allowing you to take the points you earn on any of the three cruise lines and post them to the single program you prefer, such as continuing to build Crown & Anchor Society even while sailing Celebrity. The status-match program remains intact.

Timing and what is still unknown

Royal Caribbean Group says Points Choice will debut in early 2026, with more details on exchange rates, eligibility, and program rules to be provided before launch. For now, the company has not published the exact mechanics, including whether there will be any caps, minimums, or conversion factors when assigning points across brands. Trade coverage and enthusiast outlets echo the early-2026 window and note that specifics will follow. Travelers should treat the current information as an announced direction of travel rather than a full policy manual.

Why this matters to travelers and advisors

For travelers who favor one program's benefits, Points Choice reduces the "penalty" for sampling sister brands. If you typically sail Royal Caribbean but are eyeing a Celebrity itinerary to a new destination, you can keep growing your preferred account rather than fragmenting your progress. That lowers switching costs inside the portfolio and could accelerate tier attainment for guests who mix brands. For travel advisors, this adds another lever when designing multi-year cruise plans, because clients can diversify itineraries and ships while concentrating their loyalty progress. It also narrows a competitive gap with airline and hotel groups that already let members earn into a single wallet across multiple brands.

The flip side is administrative: guests will need to select a destination program for each sailing, and they will want to track the eventual rules closely to avoid mis-posting points or missing deadlines. Because Royal Caribbean Group has not yet published exchange formulas, there is also a possibility that, for certain edge cases, a straight one-for-one credit may not apply. Until the company releases the fine print, treat all examples as illustrative rather than guaranteed.

Background: the current status-match baseline

Royal Caribbean Group's Loyalty Status Match, enhanced in 2024, provides one-for-one tier recognition across Crown & Anchor Society, Captain's Club, and Venetian Society for eligible members 18 and older who are enrolled in each brand's program. That recognition applies to voyages from June 5, 2024 onward and does not extend to non-Group cruise lines or travel brands. Points Choice does not replace this; it layers on the ability to direct the points themselves.

What to do next

If you have bookings in 2026, begin thinking about a "home" program based on the perk set you value most, such as onboard discounts, lounge access, laundry, or priority services. Keep your program enrollments current and make sure names and emails match across brands to simplify verification. When Royal Caribbean Group publishes the Points Choice rules, confirm any exchange rates and cut-off dates for assigning points and then align future sailings accordingly. In the meantime, continue to lean on status match for benefits recognition when crossing brands.

Final thoughts

Royal Caribbean Group's Points Choice is a material step toward a more unified, guest-friendly loyalty ecosystem. By letting travelers choose where their points accrue, the company keeps brand exploration open while rewarding concentration. The key now is the fine print, expected ahead of the early-2026 launch.

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